


Suppose to be a genius

by Kiyara_Iris



Series: We send pieces of ourselves [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, WIP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 11:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20620202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyara_Iris/pseuds/Kiyara_Iris
Summary: "So, I hear you gave Iruka the letdown.” Kakashi looked at Kurenai across her kitchen table. Leftovers and cups of sake were scattered between them and he was feeling full and pleasantly buzzy.He tried to make sense of that sentence. How could he have let the teacher down?In which Kakashi is an emotionally underdeveloped mess.  Enjoy ^_^





	Suppose to be a genius

Kakashi glowered into his drink, trying to drown out Anko’s chattering next to him, what the hell was she even talking about again?

“…and it’s as soft as it feels, like, soft and silky and he won’t even tell me what kind of shampoo he uses. Of course, if we’re going with best features, I’d personally say his ass, but a lot of people say his lips and I guess I can get that cause when he bites at them and they’re all plump and juicy looking…” Right. He gripped his glass tighter, wishing he hadn’t taken up Asuma’s invitation out tonight.

It had started as a bad enough day when the pipes in his apartment burst and flooded his entire floor, ruining a few books and scrolls it was worth mourning; gotten worse when the mission he’d been prepping for had been cancelled, taking with it the money he needed to restock his dwindling weapon and seal supplies; and finally capped off with his favorite pair of sandals snapping. 

Now he was being forced to listen to Anko waxing about Umino Iruka like the man was god’s gift to anyone with eyes. He hadn’t even realized they were dating, he thought Iruka had more taste than that. Not that Anko wasn’t…nice in her own terrifying way, but she just didn’t seem like Iruka’s type.

Kakashi knew that when people were smitten they liked to tell the entire world and she obviously liked the teacher, but the humdrum everyday of relationships was not something that Kakashi waited for on bated breath. There was something digging into his brain with each sentence she uttered, a headache forming behind his eye, his stomach feeling heavy and twisted. He wished she would shut up.

“You’ve got to admit, he’s a pretty special…” Kakashi sighed, finally looking up at her.

“I see nothing special about him.” Anko’s words ground to a halt and he felt a twisted sense of relief and mischief. “I’ve always thought he was fairly plain. I prefer my lovers to be more exciting in personality and looks.” He wished his sharingan was open to record her look of utter disbelief, but then her eyes were sliding to the side and he followed the movement, guilt slamming into his nerves.

He hadn’t realized the much talked about teacher was only a few tables from the bar, chatting with Asuma. The teacher was smiling slightly, not looking their way, and Kakashi hoped wildly he hadn’t heard what they’d been talking about.

“You’re a real asshole, you know that Hatake?” He looked incredulously at the kinoichi, her good humor completely overtaken by shaking anger. He couldn’t understand the depth of her emotion; Anko wasn’t the type to take that kind of thing personally, he’d insulted plenty of her manflavor-of-the-months before and she’d laughed it off. She gave him another glower and flounced haughtily away, and he sighed again.

Downing the rest of his drink he decided to make a night of it before he could piss anyone else off. 

“So, I hear you gave Iruka the letdown.” Kakashi looked at Kurenai across her kitchen table. Leftovers and cups of sake were scattered between them and he was feeling full and pleasantly buzzy. He tried to make sense of that sentence. How could he have let the teacher down?

It was true Iruka seemed subdued lately and many shinobi seemed to be colder towards Kakashi than normal, but he’d thought it was his own unpleasant mood instigating it. He hadn’t felt right for the past week, attributing it to residual moodiness of his Day From Hell. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was eating him from the inside, but the entire day kept playing in his head like a terrible song on repeat.

“What?” He finally went with. Kurenai smiled sadly.

“You could have found a more tactful way to put it you know. ‘Nothing special’, _really_ Kakashi.” She shook her head, sipping at her sake. Kakashi felt the guilt that had become familiar the past week flood him.

“I said it to Anko, to get her to shut up.” He grunted.

“Yes, but he heard it loud and clear, I’m sure.” Kakashi didn’t doubt it, not with the way the chuunin had been avoiding looking directly at him. Kakashi frowned.

“Why should he care? His girlfriend obviously thinks the world of him.” He watched Kurenai’s features crease in confusion. 

“Girlfriend?”

“Anko.” Suddenly she was laughing, almost tipping off her chair in wild mirth. Jesus she must be drunk.

“Haha, oh my god---Iruka and Anko, oh ah, wait till I tell Asuma!” Now Kakashi was confused. What the hell had the woman been going on about then? Describing Iruka’s attributes with loving detail until Kakashi couldn’t take much more of…her--talking. Or something.

“Oh Kakashi, don’t you know a wingman when you see one? You’re supposed to be a genius.” There was a fond look of exasperated affection on the woman’s face. His mind whirled; Anko had been someone’s wingman and Kakashi had let Iruka down. Kakashi’s eye widened, his brain shutting down all functionality, barely managing to breathe out,

“Iruka likes me.” Kurenai gave him a soft, disbelieving look.

“Kakashi don’t be stupid.” He took a deep relieved breath, of course, his brain was just being stupid—

“He’s been _in love_ with you for ages.” He choked. Stars popped in front of his eyes and he tilted forward. Kurenai shot out a hand, the hard thunk of it against his chest forcing air out of his lungs and a deep sucking one brought his brain back online.

“Loves…” She poured him some more sake, pushing the cup to him and he took it in one shot.

“You really didn’t know?” He shook his head, his brain and alcohol both exploding across his nerves, trying to fit the word inside the same frame as Umino Iruka. It wasn’t happening. “Well, at least now I know you didn’t say those things to maliciously hurt him.” Iruka’s small smile at the bar filled Kakashi’s mind and he stood, anger beating through his blood.

“Of course, I wouldn’t! Anko was being…absurd, I just wanted her to shut up. Iruka was just…there.” Kurenai smiled sadly.

“It’s probably better this way. Now, maybe he’ll move on.” The thought made Kakashi sit down rather hard, his body jolting.

“How long?” Kurenai shrugged, swirling her glass a little.

“I think years now.” He forwent the cup and took a long pull from the bottle. His mind just couldn’t process the uptight, kind, loud man, who never flinched away from giving Kakashi a thorough tongue lashing about his shitty mission reports…loved him. Kurenai pulled the bottle from his lips. He panted, mind supplying image after image of the chuunin, trying to figure out how he hadn’t noticed, but there was nothing in those burning eyes to suggest fondness let alone…

“Are you sure?” Kurenai looked a bit sad and faintly amused.

“Very. I think…well I kind of thought everyone knew, including you. At one point I thought…well, that perhaps you felt something too, but then you never made a move.” Kakashi let his head tip into his hands. Everyone knew? _Everyone _knew?

“Why did you think that?”

“Well, it seems a bit childish, but you always pick on him and only him, you make it a point really to get him riled up.” Well yeah, because he was cute when…Kakashi mentally backtracked. Iruka was…amusing when he was riled up, it was adorable how he…Kakashi slumped back, looking at his friend in shock and she could only look at him, equally incredulous. “Come on Kakashi, you can’t seriously tell me that all this time…”

“I didn’t know.” About Iruka, about himself. He knew he was stunted when it came to forming normal bonds with people, that he didn’t recognize how to handle certain scenarios or emotions unless he had an outside source or Icha Icha reference to help categorize the situation.

Nothing between him and Iruka followed a normal pattern. Iruka didn’t swoon, didn’t look at him adoringly, seemed irritated whenever he was around and generally seemed to ignore him. Well, they had had some conversations outside of yelling or frustrated silence; about Naruto, about teaching methods, where they liked to vacation, what they had been like as kids, the lovers they’d had…Oh god, they had been flirting, hadn’t they?! Kakashi hadn’t realized the blush he pulled out of the chuunin could mean anything other than annoyance, even when accompanied by a smile.

“Oh _god_.” Kurenai made soothing noises, rubbing his arm a bit. He knew he didn’t have to explain anything to her, she’d been a friend and fellow jounin for so long she understood how emotionally idiotic they could be, especially Kakashi. “Oh god, what do I do? Do I apologize? Do I tell him I l-l…” He couldn’t even say it!

“You’re going to drink this, also this, and maybe the rest of this, then you’re going to go to his apartment and just say whatever you can manage.” It sounded so easy and good and his heart was thumping wildly just thinking about it he was taking shot after shot without even tasting it; wondering if he was going to get to kiss Iruka tonight (how had he never wondered what that would be like?!) or more likely, get decked. He must be as crazy as people assumed, because he was giddily looking forward to either outcome.

~

Kakashi had no idea how much longer he stayed at Kuranai’s being fed drinks, but she finally seemed satisfied and pushed him, stumbling, out the door.

“Remember, just say whatever you think, don’t think about it!” This seemed mildly contradictory, but Kakashi’s slushy brain couldn’t work back through the sentence, so he saluted and headed in the vaguely remembered directions. He’d been a shinobi for a long time, so even with the amount of alcohol in his system, he soon found himself in front of an unfamiliar door, not bothering to worry if he was at the right place before knocking.

Sharp light split the dark corridor and Kakashi flinched back, blinking a few times to bring Iruka’s face into focus.

“Kakashi-sensei? What are you-?”

“You’re special!” He blurted, glad his voice wasn’t as muddled as his brain felt. Iruka’s eyes blinked a few times in what Kakashi thought might be disbelief but didn’t say anything for which Kakashi was grateful. He had quite a lot to say and Kurenai’s constant litany of advice loosened his tongue.

“I’m an idiot, I think a lot of the time. I don’t get…certain things and it makes me all weird.” Iruka hadn’t moved, if anything his eyes opened wider. Had Kakashi been anywhere near sober this may have worried him. “I also think I hurt you and I didn’t mean to. Anko was being, well Anko and you’re not plain, if anything you’re decadent, like chocolate, like really sexy chocolate I want to swim in.” Iruka’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.

“I think I like you rather a lot and I’d really like to kiss you right now. Or you can deck me. But if you’re going to deck me, I might as well kiss you first, just so I really deserve it.” And as soon as he’d thought it, he wanted to do it so badly he didn’t even care that Iruka hadn’t responded, but pressed in close to the teacher, pushing his mouth onto Iruka’s through cloth.

It was slightly awkward because Iruka’s mouth was already opened, but Kakashi decided he might as well take advantage of the position and slid his tongue out to touch at the wetness and heat. Drunken haze descended pleasantly and when he finally crawled back into his mind he realized that not only was there a lack of decking, but a hot tongue was sliding against his on the other side of the mask and hands were running hesitantly over his body.


End file.
